In response to the RFA-AR-01-009 entitled """"""""Clinical Research Education and Career Development in Minority Institutions"""""""", the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (Drew) is planning to establish a Master of Science in Clinical Research Degree Program (MSCR) through the College of Medicine. This program represents a dramatic advancement as it will become the first independent degree offered through the College of Medicine. Presently, the Doctor of Medicine degree is jointly conferred through Drew's affiliation with the UCLA School of Medicine. This program represents a new curriculum at Drew that will utilize faculty not only from Drew, but also from the affiliated UCLA institutions, including faculty teaching the recently funded UCLA K-30 Translational Research Curriculum Award. The overarching goal is to train qualified candidates in clinical research methodologies and to impart a unique understanding of the cultural and ethical issues that impact how clinical investigation can contribute to improving the health care of our diverse nation. The core curriculum includes areas such as epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical trials, pharmaco-genetics, research ethics, the communication of science, and grantsmanship.
The specific aims of the MSCR Program at Drew are to: 1. Implement a new curriculum for patient-oriented research that has a particular emphasis on methodologies to address health disparities. 2. Increase the number of women and ethnic minority investigators well-trained in health disparities research. 3. Develop a cadre of well-trained clinician faculty who will pursue clinical research on diseases that disproportionately affects minority populations. 4. Continuously evaluate the processes and the initial objectives of the MSCR program and utilize these assessments to make ongoing programmatic improvements in consultation with NIH program officials.
